Launching Ideas

Launching Ideas

By Daniel Fusco

 

No two church plants are alike.  Each new work has a unique set of circumstances.  Some church plants are what I like to call ‘cold plants’.  You have a church planter starting in an area where they don’t know anyone at all.  Others are a bit warmer.  Sometimes a church planter will move within their state.  Sometimes they will be sent from their church because there are a few families who want to see a new work start.  Other church plants entail a church sending their Assistant Pastor with a number of people to the next town to start a church.  As I said, the circumstances are always different.  But one thing remains constant: each one needs to start.  They need to begin meeting in some way and some time.  No way is better or worse than another.  The only thing that matters is what the Lord’s will is for a specific work.  The purpose of this article is to give you some ideas as to the various ways people start meeting.  I’m also going to mention a few ‘cons’ to each method to help facilitate your thinking.

 

The Home Bible Study

 

This method is the least expensive way to launch.  It simply entails beginning a Bible study in a home.  The idea being that as people begin to congregate together around the Word of God and as relationships are built, you are laying the foundation for a potential church plant.  This is often how existing churches plant new congregations.  They begin a home fellowship and see if they will develop into something that can be launched at some point.  The main con to this method, in the 21^st century is that people often will not come to the home of people that they don’t know.  So in order to grow a home bible study (especially in a ‘cold’ plant situation), it can take a very long time.

 

The Non Sunday Morning Public Meeting

 

Many churches are started with a public Bible study at a time other than Sunday mornings.  Often planters choose either Sunday evening or a Wednesday or Thursday night as these are traditional times for worship services.  This is beneficial because you can have a worship service with teaching and you are not bound to have a full program (children’s ministry, nursery, ushers, etc).  By having it on an alternative time other than Sunday morning, you have a lowered expectation.  You really only need a Bible teacher and a worship leader to accomplish this.  The biggest con is that often you will get many members of other churches who come and if/when you want to go to Sunday mornings, you will either lose many folks or force a decision by people who are already committed at other places (neither of which is very much fun).

 

Presentation Services

 

This is a very interesting method.  The presentation method can take on innumerable characteristics but the basis of it is this: a church is going to get started so there is over the course of a few months, events designed to create a buzz about a new ministry.  Let’s use an example.   Let’s say that you wanted to plant a church in a town.  Your target Sunday service launch date is January 1.  So beginning in November, you decide to do outreach for the entire weekend culminating in a presentation worship service on Sunday evening.  The whole focus of the outreach is to let your community know that who you are.  Then you decide to do 2 more presentation services in December with corresponding outreach all of it culminating with the January 1^st Launch service.  This method is great because you have the potential of meeting many people before you really get going.  The greatest con to this method is that you need servants and money to execute the outreaches and services, which is often in short supply in a church plant. 

 

Sunday Morning Service

 

This is simply finding a public place to meet on Sunday morning and simply launching the church.  As I described in the article entitled, ‘The Big Three’, it is important to remember that there are certain expectations that people have about coming to a church on Sunday morning.  I recommend having the Big Three (pastor, worship leader, and children’s ministry) when you begin a Sunday morning service.  The biggest con to this method, like the Presentation Services, is that you need resources and man-power to launch a Sunday morning service.  And as the old proverb goes, ‘You never get a second chance to make a first impression.’

 

In conclusion, this is not an exhaustive list, only the most commonly used methods of getting a new church going.  Don’t forget, these ways are not mutually exclusive.  You can use a hybrid methodology in getting started.  As was stated earlier, really the only thing that matters is what the Lord’s will is for the church that you are starting.